Golden Opportunity
by Dixie Dewdrop
Summary: What happens when both Gibbs and Tony find themselves trapped and injured on the job?  This is part of my Here and Now scenario.
1. Performance Test

Performance Test

Their suspect vaulted over a trash can near the front entrance of the convenience store and hurled himself into the safety of the shop's interior, still brandishing his gun. Gibbs and Dinozzo, who had pursued the man for the past block, split apart when their pounding feet made it to the parking lot and raced into the store through each of its two doors.

Tony stumbled over the metal floor strip at the entrance as the terrified clerk bumped him, a woman in her fifties running and screaming for safety outside the store. He regained his footing within seconds. Gibbs had progressed to the back of the store and glimpsing his senior agent, raised an eyebrow, signalling that he did not have a visual on the suspect. Tony carefully inched his way towards his boss, and both crouched to keep themselves out of sight.

A sudden crash at the front of the building caused them to react quickly, swivelling immediately to confront the noise with their guns aimed. Their suspect hit the door at a run and as it flew open to allow his escape to the outdoors, the entire world exploded around them.

Tony fought his way to consciousness slowly, not opening his eyes for a pretty long time after the dust settled. The air smelled gunpowder-charged, that gritty, metallic scent that came after a fierce gun battle. As far as he could remember, though, neither he nor Gibbs had fired a weapon.

Gibbs snapped awake as soon as his body registered a final shift of the environment. The air hung so thickly that he couldn't make out the details around him so he sat up cautiously, trying to let his eyes assimilate the other sensory details. Something heavy lay on top of his legs, effectively pinning him, and he tried to untangle himself carefully to take stock of the situation. A hurt groan alerted him to the fact that Tony was nearby, and with a shock he realized Tony's body was what held him down.

Manoeuvring gently, he pulled himself into a sitting position and extricated his legs. He crawled carefully to his senior field agent, and Tony began to stir as he approached. Once he assured himself Dinozzo was alive he stopped and gave himself a quick check over. As far as he could tell, he had no broken bones. However, his hands came up bloody, so he realized he had damage somewhere, and he prodded experimentally. His left arm felt tender, and appeared sprained, though, to his relief, didn't seem broken. One of his ribs had a definite fracture, and the worst of the blood appeared to originate from a gash over his left knee.

While Tony slowly made his way to the conscious world he inspected him, and found Tony had a deep head gash, a large cut on his right thigh, and assorted less serious cuts and bruises. He suspected that he had at least one broken rib, as well, but until Dinozzo confirmed it, couldn't be sure. Jethro worked himself into a more comfortable position and then rested as he waited for Tony to wake, mentally reviewing how they had gotten there.

The team had tracked a lead on a suspect identified as the killer of two Marines who had beaten him at games of pool at a neighbourhood bar. Witnesses unanimously agreed that the killer's immediate reaction to his loss had just been so far over the top that the patrons of the establishment suspected angel dust, or PCP, and watched him in fascinated horror. His rage terrified them.

Too paralyzed to intervene, they saw him pull a gun and shoot both Marines, then systematically grab chairs and hurl them at customers, destroying everything in his wake. Onlookers screamed then and ran for safety and cover, and after three or four minutes of sheer bedlam, the man backed his way out of the bar, firing more shots as he left.

It didn't take long before Team Gibbs had the man's identity, Devin Carver. Carver had been dishonourably discharged from the Service after two violent incidents in a three month period of time. The agents tracked him to an abandoned office building, but he managed to elude them and run to the shelter of the convenience store. Jethro and Tony pounded behind him, screaming for him to stop. He didn't, which resulted in the condition they found themselves now.

Tony came to reality finally, and started to pull himself up to sit by his boss but Gibbs stopped him. "Hang on a second before you jostle around, Tony. Let me check your pupils." He leaned down and peered into his agent's green eyes, carefully testing for signs of concussion. Finally he grunted, "Ok, I think you're good, but sit up slowly."

Tony obeyed, and Jethro helped get him into a sitting position.

"I should have seen that he had wired himself," Tony observed, rubbing carefully at his head, then frowning when his hand came back bloody.

"It got past me, too," Gibbs admitted. "I hope that clerk got far enough away before he blew himself up."

"Yeah," Tony said softly. "Looks like we just narrowly escaped involuntary amputation ourselves."

The two men took an appraising look around them. They obviously were in the rear of the establishment. The entire front of the store had collapsed into a mountain of rubble, but it appeared that some of the middle section of the establishment remained in a precarious state.

Tony spoke, "By now Probie and Ziva will have them digging us out."

Gibbs nodded in agreement before turning to look up above him. "We can be grateful for the skylight, or what's left of the skylight. It's giving us enough illumination to actually see through the wreckage."

Gibbs leaned down and scrutinized Tony's thigh. "We need to deal with that cut on your leg. It looks deep, and you are losing blood from it."

Tony winced, and observed "You aren't too pretty yourself there, Boss. That knee of yours looks bad."

They regarded each other, and what remained of the store, for a couple of minutes, deciding on their next moves.


	2. Good Performance

Good Performance

Tony licked his lips and peered around the remnant of the store. "I'm going to see what we're up against here." He started to move, but Gibbs grabbed his arm, forcing an abrupt stop.

"Together- we do it together. Go slowly. You take this side," Gibbs pointed to his left, "and I'll take this one." He indicated the right side of the space.

Tony shook his head in agreement and murmured, "Got it, Boss."

Once they reconvened the future appeared a bit brighter. Tony had discovered their position bordered the store's food and beverage fountain area. Working methodically, he had moved and pushed aside debris and created a path they could traverse by crawling on their hands and knees. Near the microwave the ceiling had only collapsed partially, providing the opportunity to fully stand and even to walk a couple of feet. Calling out to Gibbs, Tony told him to make his way to his position. Gibbs answered that he would shortly join him, and once satisfied that he had salvaged what he could from his own reconnaissance, he crawled to Tony's area of the store.

Tony greeted him with a delighted grin. "Got something for you, Boss," he laughed, extending a paper coffee cup filled to the brim with hot, aromatic coffee. "The coffee station is pretty damaged, but I manage to rig the French Vanilla to produce."

Gibbs grinned and accepted the cup, then realized that Tony was standing upright in the space. He held the container back out for Tony to take while he made his way to his feet, then grabbed the coffee back with a smile.

"Manna, this is manna," he pronounced, taking a swallow. "You have outdone yourself."

"Here I thought you would reject my present out of hand and say only sissies drank flavoured coffee," Tony smirked.

Gibbs grinned, took another gulp, and eyed the food station critically. "Look for some napkins while you're at it. We can use the hot water from the machines to disinfect our cuts. I wish I had found something myself that we could substitute for bandages, though. Ducky will have his hands full with us when we get out of here."

An hour later the two NCIS investigative agents sat back, exhausted. They had sterilized and treated their injuries as best they could, and had depleted their strength by dealing with the resultant pain from their ministrations.

Tony stretched and began to search again. Eventually he moved aside a display of toys to discover a restroom, door partially open. He crowed gleefully. "I found the head, Boss, though to be fair it seems it's the head for girls."

Gibbs called out in response, "It will do, just put the seat back down, Anthony."

Later the two sat gingerly against the supply cabinets, their physical and mental exhaustion catching up to them.

"Stay still, Tony," Gibbs ordered, noticing that Tony wanted to get back to work again. "We have time here. I think that we need to keep calm, because even though we don't hear any rescue attempts, I guarantee that they have begun searching for our bodies."

"Ok," Tony agreed, a little relieved. He felt wiped out, and wiped out combined with experiencing horrible pain. He grimaced. "Good news, Boss, is that we won't go hungry or get dehydrated."

Gibbs smiled indulgently. Tony had practically squealed with delight when he realized the potato chip and cookie aisles bordered the beverage fountains. He had torn into a package of powdered doughnuts with enthusiasm.

"Right you are," Gibbs spoke, "and that is crucial. We don't know how long it will take to be freed with all of the debris around us."

They lapsed into companionable silence.

Several minutes later Tony shifted his position and an audible grasp of pain escaped his lips. He quickly put his hand over his head wound.

Gibbs responded quickly. "Hey, come over here to me, Tony."

"I'm ok, Boss. My head just really hurts." The agent dismissed, smiling shyly.

Frowning, Gibbs changed his tone from his boss tone of delivery to his parent tone of delivery. "What made that sound like a request, Anthony? I have no intention of repeating myself to you."

That galvanized Tony, and Gibbs pulled him closer with his good arm. "Put your head on my lap," he commanded, knowing it would give a bit of cushioning from the brutally hard concrete floor. When Tony settled he added, "Close your eyes."

Rubbing gently at the young man's temples, Tony soon succumbed to the ministrations. Gibbs didn't stop until he felt the shift in his charge's breathing. Smiling, he noted Tony had fallen asleep pretty quickly and he relaxed his vigil. Sleep would do nothing but help him, as well, at this point.

Trying to keep Tony as comfortable as possible, he lost himself in thought, eventually dozing off, as well.

When Tony woke his headache had reduced itself to a dull ache, and he smiled in relief. He tried to sit up quietly, but his boss woke as well. "Sorry, Boss-"

Gibbs smiled, "It's ok, I slept, too."

Tony checked his watch. "It looks like we have made it to dinner time. I wonder how much progress has been made outside. The team will..."

He broke off and turned a horrified face to Jethro. "Boss, Baby Girl, she will be terrified."

"I know she'll worry, but I also know that she can stay calm and turn into a professional forensic scientist when she needs to do so. Ducky will stand by her."

That satisfied Tony, and Jethro looked at him affectionately. Tony and Abby stayed with him at the House of Gibbs, Jethro's house. The three had forged an incredibly loving and strong bond, despite the older man's reluctance to invest his care or his time in them.

The two men helped themselves to some more of the store's goodies, then took turns using the restroom. Munching a candy bar, Jethro observed, "Actually, Son, I am glad of the opportunity to talk to you confidentially. No one is around to hear our conversation."

Immediately wary, Tony raised his eyebrows defensively, "You already yelled at Baby Girl and me over the fence incident. Don't you remember? I certainly do, 'cause we thought you'd never stop. I promise you my conduct has been pristine since then."

.


	3. Bad Performance

Bad Performance

His boss couldn't hide a smile. Tony and Abby reverted to teen aged behaviour the second they made it home each day. "No, you are not in any more trouble with me than you normally are, Anthony."

Tony exhaled sharply and responded with a megawatt smile. "Ok, then, opportunity away-"

"I am concerned about you." Gibbs met Tony's gaze. "You have avoided talking about your former partner, Danny Price. You two were close, and he was murdered not long ago. When I asked, you claimed you were fine, but the truth is that you weren't, you aren't, and that you haven't forgiven yourself concerning him."

Tony deliberately looked away, then pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. He focused on the floor, and didn't respond

Gibbs prodded, "I'm waiting for a response."

Tony shook his head, but didn't meet Jethro's gaze.

"Tony?" Gibbs leaned over and tapped his chin, then turned his face towards him. "I expect an answer from you. Just ignoring the question will not work."

Shaking his head in irritation, Tony snapped, "What do you want to hear from me? He was my partner. You knew that. We were tight when I worked for Baltimore. You knew that, too. He turned into a dirty cop. That's not a surprise. Anything else?"

The last words came out laced liberally with an annoyed and sarcastic tinge.

Gibbs responded immediately, in the voice Tony and Abby had nicknamed his- rattlesnake about to pounce- tone. "Are you absolutely certain that you want to give me another smart mouthed reply?" He paused meaningfully. "Two seconds and you had better take care of that attitude by yourself, Anthony. Otherwise, I will do it for you, and I promise you will not be a happy camper if you hand it off to me to enact the change."

His senior field agent absorbed the words and weighed the threat. Truthfully, he and Abby practiced very careful restraint when they considered rebelling against any orders from Jethro at home. Once his boss slipped on his daddy cloak he expected either complete obedience or that someone's butt would suffer.

It probably would be in his best interest not to poke the bear further. Though it might appear that Jethro couldn't carry out any threats in their current environment, Tony wasn't willing to take the chance. He had known the man long enough to respect the fact that he kept his promises.

"It's finished, my smart mouth attitude is, I mean," he responded finally, rubbing his temples and meeting Jethro's gaze levelly to show him that he wasn't sulking. "I guess Danny is a sore topic for me, huh, Boss?"

Gibbs nodded, then smiled sadly. "That is a given. You were partners, and you trusted each other with your lives. You must have been devastated not only to lose him, but to lose him to a murderer."

Tony nervously smoothed the bandage Gibbs had fashioned on his head gash. "What kind of man- no, what kind of friend am I? I turned my back on him. I walked away from Baltimore and never looked back. Had I been a better human being, I would have done my part and shown some compassion, especially after I realized he had sold himself out. Especially then, I should have stepped up to the plate."

Frowning, he drummed his fingers nervously against the floor. "Never once did I ask him why he did it. Did he need money? Was he just going along for the ride? Did Raimey, our Baltimore department boss, blackmail him or threaten him? Maybe had I stopped and gone to see Danny just one more time before I turned my back on the whole experience, together we would have figured out Raimey was the one pulling the strings of the operation."

Tony swallowed and rubbed his jaw roughly, clearly angry with himself. "I didn't do that, though. I wiped Danny out of my life. Even when rumours came down the grapevine that he had turned into an alcoholic, I ignored him, and just erased our two years of partnership and friendship. Did I look back? Are you kidding? Now, he's dead. I don't have a chance to tell him how much I admired his investigative skills, or that I still have never met anyone- well, we just played off each other, the two of us. He'd make a comment and I'd have the rejoinder and we'd go back and forth, in tandem. We were incredible like that, a team that just rocked."

Tony stopped and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He flashed a half smile at Gibbs. "When I first started working with Danny he said that he had never seen any man who needed fashion help more than I did. Hard to believe, huh, Boss?"

Gibbs laughed out loud.

"That's right, and he made it his mission to transform my sense of style, which he claimed was non-existent. You can thank him for my fashion flare now." Tony's voice trailed to a stop.

Gibbs smirked, "He succeeded, then. I wonder it he realized he created a Frankenstein Dinozzo fashion model, though."

"Funny, Boss, that is so hilarious." Tony smiled and continued. "We had similar backgrounds, family backgrounds, which gave us another strong tie. The chief called us The Combo. He'd say he planned to unleash The Combo to get the job done, like he planned to send out attack dogs, or something."

Tony got quiet then, lost in bittersweet reflection. Finally he finished his narration. "So there you go, Boss. That's the low down on the Danny story, and now you know that I dropped the ball with someone I should have tried to help with every fiber of my being."

Gibbs licked his lips and weighed his response. Finally, he had managed to penetrate Tony's mask, the disguise designed to cover up the pain and hurt he held inside him. Witnessing him deliver his narration his Boss had seen Tony stripped to the very core of his being. Tony held himself at fault. He held himself to blame for Danny's ultimate murder. Now it rested on Jethro to make him understand and accept his innocence.


	4. Performance Review

Performance Review

"Look right at me, Son," Gibbs ordered, tapping Tony under the chin. He waited until his agent obeyed before he continued. "I want you to listen for just a second and not speak. I understand how it feels to tear yourself up inside going over the words you should have spoken, and the actions you should or should not have done. Doubting yourself can consume your life, second guessing yourself, and it can also destroy your soul. Here's the deal, though, Tony. At the end of the day, you, Anthony Dinozzo, did not have the power to stop Danny from turning dirty. He held that power. You did not have the power to save him from alcoholism. He had that power."

Gibbs paused a second and regarded Tony, whose face reflected his emotional turmoil and pain. "No, you didn't have the power for any of that. What you actually had the power to do was to walk away from Baltimore clean. You had the power to make an ethical decision and then to live with it, to not turn in your partner, but to turn your back on him and on his lifestyle. You had the power to trust your soul and take the moral stand that not only did you not condone his actions, but that you wanted to remove yourself from a setting you knew bred corruption, something your gut refused to condone."

Jethro paused a couple of seconds, then continued. "Now, trust me, Tony, that the worst wrong that has been done here is that you have refused to forgive yourself for something you had absolutely no power to change until now. Today, though, trapped right here with me in the ruins of a convenience store, I want you to take credit for bringing your former police captain to justice. Then, I want you to also take credit in ensuring justice for Danny by taking your old boss down."

Gibbs reached over and tousled Tony's hair, then sat back and deliberately closed his eyes. The parent part of him knew that Tony would need a few minutes to process what he had heard, and he had every intention of giving him the time to do just that. He could wait. They had time.

Tony leaned his head against the wall and considered what Gibbs had told him. Then he thought about Danny, the man who had been his best friend and his confidante for two incredible years. What Boss said was true about the whole sordid mess. He had to accept that, to devote his attention to remembering Danny as he was at his zenith, and to take the steps to forgive himself.

A cacophony of sound several minutes later energized them, and Gibbs stretched and looked around. "Hmmm... I think they're on to us. They must be trying to clear as much as they can before dark."

Tony grinned, "You know, every time I'm in trouble like this, I just keep telling myself to hold on, that you'll find me, Boss. When Ziva and I got locked in that shipping container, I had no doubt you'd find us. I even told her you would get us. That time that psycho bartender kept me underground, not once did I think you wouldn't show. My faith has always been in you to rescue me, and so far I have always been right."

"Sounds good, except now I am trapped with you," Gibbs pointed out the obvious.

"It's ok, though, Boss," Tony gave him a megawatt smile. "This has been a really rough year, and I mean for you, as well as for me. Mike Franks meant a great deal to you and his death ripped you apart. I know you well enough to say that you did a spectacular job of hiding your own feelings, like I did with Danny. That's what you're saying I did, right?" Tony grinned.

Gibbs shook his head. "Ok, touché, Son. You are right. Yeah, it hurt, and it still hurts. He was my boss, and my mentor, and my father figure, and my partner." Gibbs pinched the bridge of his nose.

Tony reached over and put his hand on Jethro's arm, showing his sympathy.

"Let me ask you something, Tony. Does the relationship I shared with Mike Franks remind you of anyone else's relationship?"

Tony looked up quickly. "I think I know exactly what you mean, Boss."

"Then if you do, let me pass on to you what Mike told me when I once blamed myself for someone else's path in life, and that is to keep fighting the good fight anyway, because you don't waste good. You don't, Tony."

Gibbs looked up and gave Tony a nod in acknowledgement. It was no secret that Tony regarded him in the same way he'd just defined his bond and relationship with Franks.

The noise slackened for a moment and they could clearly hear voices outside. It wouldn't be long before they would be freed. They stood up and stretched, and Gibbs helped himself to another cup of coffee, while Tony opened a bag of chips and began munching. The outside efforts continued several more minutes, then the distinct sounds of rescuers breaking through the debris and entering the store enveloped them.

"That's it, then," Gibbs observed. "Ten minutes from now we will be away from this building and Ducky will be sharing with us a story he though about while autopsying what's left of our suicide bombing perp."

Tony threw his head back and laughed maniacally and Gibbs reproached, "It wasn't that funny, I assure you."

"No," Tony agreed, "no, it wasn't. My joy is not for the perp who landed us here. Rather, my delight stems from the fact that I just came through hours of being trapped with you and managed not to give away any secrets."

"Secrets about what?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Tony laughed again. "I didn't confess to anything you don't already know. I mean, I didn't give away one single thing from the Baby Girl, or tattle or give myself away on something you'd normally bust me for doing. I have been through the fire and I reign triumphant!"

Gibbs smirked in reply. "Hmmm... all right, Son, you made a good point, but don't congratulate yourself too soon. The way our day unfolded I would have been pretty lenient about any admissions describing your confessed crimes anyway. However, now I can actually see our rescuers heading towards us." He looked at Tony, tapped him under his chin, and grinned. "So, what are the odds that you just wasted a golden opportunity here, Anthony?"


End file.
